Georgia Today: Atlanta Police vehicle attacks; WIC farmers markets; Peachtree Road Race results

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Wednesday, July 5. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, Atlanta officials are condemning a series of attacks over the holiday weekend that targeted police vehicles. WIC Farmers markets begin this week in central Georgia for families in need. And we'll break down a busy weekend for athletes, including the results from the Peachtree Road Race. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Atlanta officials are condemning attacks over the holiday weekend that targeted police vehicles. Atlanta police chief Darin Scheirbaum this morning said explosives set off at a precinct on Saturday destroyed eight of their motorcycles.

Darin Scheirbaum: This attack was not only an attack on the men and women of this police department, but it was an attack on every neighborhood that this department protects and every visitor that comes to our city to enjoy Atlanta. The Peachtree Road Race the day before could easily have been impacted.

Peter Biello: Sheirbaum said a few hours earlier, a planned explosives attack at another precinct was thwarted by a concerned citizen. He says contractors associated with the city's planned public safety training center also were targeted by vandalism, tire slashing and graffiti. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said criminals were hiding in the midst of people peacefully protesting the training center.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Retired former Fulton County Superior Court judge Marvin Arrington Sr. died this morning at the age of 82. A statement from his family expressed gratitude for his, quote, loving dedication as a committed father and grandfather and for his example of a lifetime of service. The statement did not give a cause of death. Arrington served as the city of Atlanta council president for 17 years until he unsuccessfully ran for mayor. He was appointed judge by then-Gov. Roy Barnes and served for a decade. Arrington's family says details about arrangements will be announced as they are finalized.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: The sheriff in South Georgia's Crisp County says one of his deputies was shot and killed during a traffic stop early this morning. Sheriff Billy Hancock says the deputy pulled over the suspect, who opened fire, stole the deputy's patrol car and fled up Interstate 75. Authorities apprehended the suspect near Macon. The deputy, whose name has not been released, is the first Georgia law enforcement member to be killed in the line of duty this year.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: The Georgia Department of Agriculture has regained its status as a law enforcement agency after a 10-year hiatus. GPB's Sarah Kallis has more on what the change could mean.

Sarah Kallis: The department disbanded its law enforcement agency in 2013. Now its law enforcement and emergency management division who have arresting powers and collaborate with other agencies on safety. Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper tapped Harlan Proveaux to be inspector general and director. Proveaux says the new division will focus on reducing agricultural crimes.

Harlan Proveaux: Helping us ensure that people aren't being trafficked in Georgia. People aren't selling drugs in the agriculture industry. We want to protect the farmers. We want to protect the produce and the food that people consume in Georgia; that they're safe.

Sarah Kallis: Proveaux will also handle emergency management and help farmers access relief funds after natural disasters. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis.

Caption

An electric truck built by electric vehicle maker Rivian is shown. The California-based company announced it's building a $5 billion plant in East Georgia.

Credit: Stephen Fowler / GPB News

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian is reporting strong production and deliveries in the second quarter. The California-based company is planning to build a massive factory east of Atlanta. Rivian says it produced nearly 14,000 vehicles at its Illinois manufacturing center in the three months ending in June. That's a nearly 50% increase over the previous quarter and a result that Reuters called a positive sign for the electric vehicle startup.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: A beach party that promised to be another large, unpermitted event on Tybee Island failed to materialize over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. As GPB's Orlando Montoya reports, some business owners say the publicity around the event could have cost them.

Orlando Montoya: The event was billed as a follow up to Orange Crush, an April bash that brought thousands of mostly well-behaved visitors, but also included fights on the beach, massive traffic disruptions and a road rage shooting. Tybee Island resident and innkeeper Karen Kelley says she had her doubts about this weekend.

Karen Kelley: I could have told you it wasn't happening because I called both of the clubs and they — they didn't have an event going on. And I talked to other hotel owners and there was no hotel room booked for this such event.

Orlando Montoya: She blames event organizers, the media and city officials for lackluster business. For GPB News, I'm Orlando Montoya.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Georgia public transit systems are getting $7 million as part of the state's new transit trust fund. Approved by state lawmakers in 2021, i's the first ever dedicated annual state funding source for public transit in Georgia. But the funds only go to agencies outside of metro Atlanta. Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Natalie Dale says 51 transit systems received awards in the fund's first fiscal year, which ended last week.

Natalie Dale: Sometimes these are the only way the people who live in these committees have to get where they're going. They're really vital to quality of life in these small rural communities.

Peter Biello: Among other awards, Athens-Clarke County plans to create a bus link to metro Atlanta's MARTA system. The fund leaves MARTA as the largest public transit agency in the country without a dedicated annual source of state funding. MARTA, however, occasionally does receive large state appropriations for individual projects.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: The MARTA Public Art program ArtBound has announced artists to create eight mosaics that will be installed on platform levels at the Five Points station. Four artists were selected from a pool of more than 150 candidates. MARTA says the project will give their largest and busiest station a makeover for the first time since the late '70s. The mosaics will serve as both navigational aids and visually striking art pieces.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: Several local farmers markets this summer will serve women, infants and children as part of a supplemental nutrition program that helps to feed almost 200,000 people every month. GPB's Sofi Gratas has the details.

Sofi Gratas: WIC farmers markets begin this week in Central Georgia as part of an annual program sponsored by the state Public Health Department and the USDA. Mary Wolcott is the WIC program coordinator for Bibb County, which will host its market from July 24 to 28.

Mary Wolcott: How I always explain it to my participants is farmers market is a special time where we give you extra money allotted at no cost to you for your family.

Sofi Gratas: To pay for fresh produce, which participants will need to pick up vouchers at their local health department first. Although Georgia replaced paper vouchers with electronic benefit cards last year to make grocery shopping easier, Walcott says logistical issues means the state will likely wait until next year to roll those out for farmers market purchases. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas in Macon.

Story 10:

Peter Biello: Northwest Georgia's Rome has completed a long-running project to install historical markers on downtown buildings. The city-administered program placed a total of 45 plaques on commercial buildings in Rome's downtown corridor, Broad Street. Unlike many historic plaques, the ones in Rome include more than just building's date. Ann Pullen spearheaded research for the project on behalf of the Rome Area Heritage Foundation.

Ann Pullen: We tried to put a little history of the building on each plaque, which has proved a bit more difficult to do than we thought it would, because we've had to narrow down a lot of history of the buildings and distill it into one sentence.

Peter Biello: Pullen says Rome's downtown development authority and Broad Street businesses paid for the plaques in the interest of boosting foot traffic in the corridor.

Caption

The southern elktoe is a rare freshwater mussel found only in the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint River Basins. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed in June 2023 to add the southern elktoe to the endangered species list.

Credit: J. Wisniewski / Georgia Department of Natural Resources

Story 11:

Peter Biello: Federal wildlife officials have proposed adding a rare southeastern mussel to the endangered species list. The southern elktoe is a freshwater mussel found only in the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint River basins. GPB's Devon Zwald has more.

Devon Zwald: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the species has disappeared from most of its range, and only six populations still exist. Sandy Abbott, with the agency's Georgia Ecological Services field offices, says mussels play a special role in the river basin's ecosystem.

Sandy Abbott: They filter the water and to take out nutrients for food and when they spit it back out, the water is cleaner. So they're like kidneys of the river systems, like they actually clean and filter the water out. And a lot of people don't realize that.

Devon Zwald: The service is also proposing to designate 578 river miles in Georgia, Florida and Alabama as critical habitat. The public can submit written comments on the proposal to the federal government until Aug. 21. For GPB News, I'm Devon Zwald.

Story 13:

Peter Biello: The King Center announced yesterday the celebration of life services for Dr. Christine King Farris. Farris died last week. She was the last living sibling of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The three days of tributes, honors and celebrations begin on Tuesday, July 11 at Spelman College and end on Sunday, July 16 at Ebenezer Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, the King Center asks for donations to the Christine King Farris Legacy Foundation.

Story 14:

Peter Biello: Severe weather brought an early end to this year's Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta. Organizers of the 54th annual Independence Day 10K say about 500 participants were still on the course when an unexpected thunderstorm canceled the event around 10:30. However, the majority of the runners were finished by that time. Kenyan Charles Langat that won the men's race in just under 28 minutes. Ethiopian Fotyen Tesfay won the women's race in just under 31 minutes. Last year's winner and this year's favorite, Senbere Teferi, veered off course just before the finish line. She appeared to follow the motorcycle pacing the course as it veered off ahead of the finish line. Daniel Romanchuk won his sixth consecutive men's wheelchair race, and women's wheelchair winner Susannah Scaroni won her third. And Cece Page, an Atlanta graphic designer, won the Finisher's Shirt design contest.

Story 15:

Peter Biello: In other sports, the Atlanta Braves almost made it to 10 wins in a row last night. But in extra innings, the Cleveland Guardians pulled off a 6 to 5 victory. The loss ended what many fans had considered a continuation of the red-hot month of June when the Braves started winning and seemed unable to stop. Ronald Acuna Jr. extended his hitting streak to 15 games last night. The four-time All-Star outfielder is the first player to reach 20 home runs, 40 stolen bases and 50 RBIs before the All-Star break. Righty Michael Soroka is expected to get the start for the series finale for the Braves tonight. In basketball, the Atlanta Dream face the Los Angeles Sparks tonight and Atlanta United announced today that it has acquired $300,000 in 2023 general allocation money or GAM. That's extra money for players' salaries. The club also acquired $100,000 in GAM for next year and a 2023 international roster slot from the Colorado Rapids in exchange for Andrew Gutman. Atlanta could also acquire up to $150,000 in conditional GAM if Gutman reaches performance thresholds during his time with Colorado. Major League Soccer's secondary transfer window officially opened today and will remain open until Wednesday, Aug. 2. Atlanta United will travel to face CF Montreal on Saturday.

And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. We do appreciate you tuning in. Hope you had a great holiday weekend. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, visit GPB.org/news. And if you haven't subscribed to this podcast yet, now is a great time to do it; we'll be back in your podcast feed tomorrow afternoon with all the top stories in the state. And if you've got feedback about anything you hear on this podcast, or if you get a story idea or something you want to hear on this podcast, let us know. Send us an email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

___

For more on these stories and more go to GPB.org/news.